Nevertheless, Federation scientists attempted to create a functional transwarp drive system as early as 2275. Within a decade, the first prototype was installed aboard the experimental USS Excelsior. Unfortunately, the transwarp project ultimately proved too ambitious. During its initial test flight in 2285, the Excelsior was nearly destroyed by a nacelle implosion. Subsequent tests were less catastrophic, but the Excelsior never made a successful test flight using the transwarp drive. Starfleet abandoned the transwarp project in 2287, and refitted the Excelsior with a standard warp drive system. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).

The transwarp project remained defunct for most of the 24th century, as many scientists came to share the opinion that a stable transwarp drive system was unattainable. However, those preconceptions were shattered in 2364, when the USS Enterprise-D was catapulted into another galaxy—more than a billion light years—with assistance from an

alien being known as the Traveler. The voyage immediately rejuvenated the transwarp project as scientists began to examine the data collected during the event. (“Where No One Has Gone Before” [TNG]). The transwarp project received another jolt in December 2369, when the Borg invaded the Ohniaka System. The attacking was transwarp capable, able to generate transwarp conduits that extended tens of thousands of light years. The vessel, believed to be an advanced prototype, was ultimately destroyed by the Enterprise-D. (“Descent, parts I and II” [TNG]).

In the aftermath of the Borg incursion, the transwarp project was instilled with a considerable sense of urgency. The Borg, in demonstrating their new vessel, also provided an influx of new information on transwarp systems. The attack confirmed the existence of a transwarp domain—a secondary region of subspace that had been little more than theory since the transwarp project’s initiation in 2275. The Borg demonstrated it was possible to open a conduit within the transwarp domain, effectively circumventing the standard warp barrier.

Unfortunately, despite the influx of new data, warp theorists around the Federation remained unsuccessful in their efforts to create a stable transwarp drive system.

The breakthrough came in 2375, when the USS Voyager made the very first successful transwarp flight in the Delta Quadrant. The Voyager crew had previously made several unsuccessful attempts at crossing into transwarp (“Threshold” [VGR]), the but acquisition of a transwarp coil from a damaged Borg sphere proved to be the critical component. Voyager was able to journey 20,000 light years in just a few hours. (“Dark Frontier” [VGR]).

When Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant in December 2377, Federation scientists were eager to inspect the coils. Combined with recent scientific advances and experiments, the transwarp project began to move forward at an astonishing pace. The first operational transwarp drive systems were being tested by 2387. In January 2395, the Federation officially lifted the few remaining restrictions on transwarp flight, and a new era of space travel was at hand. (“Beginnings” [TFF]).

Technology

Transwarp conduits are artificial tunnels through the transwarp domain, often linked together by large transwarp hubs. The conduits are the most important part of the transwarp infrastructure; as such, the operation of transwarp drive systems is fundamentally different from a standard warp drive. Though the Federation presently lacks the extensive network of transwarp hubs developed by the Borg, any starship—even one without a transwarp drive—can gain entry into an established transwarp conduit by emitting an encoded tachyon pulse. Vessels traveling within these fixed transwarp conduits typically move at speeds thirty times faster than a vessel traveling at warp 9. (“Descent, part I” [TNG]).

WarpFactor

Equals(xc)

Time to Travel

To Nearby Star(5l y)

Across Sector(20 ly)

Across Federation(8,000 ly)

To Andromeda(2,000,000 ly)

11

32,561

1.3 hours

5.4 hours

89.7 days

61.4 years

12

47,474

55.4 minutes

3.7 hours

61.6 days

42.1 years

13

67,156

39.2 minutes

2.6 hours

43.5 days

29.8 years

14

92,588

28.4 minutes

1.9 hours

31.6 days

21.6 years

15

124,852

21.1 minutes

1.4 hours

23.4 days

16.0 years

16

165,140

15.9 minutes

1.1 hours

17.7 days

12.1 years

17

214,756

12.2 minutes

49.0 minutes

13.6 days

9.3 years

18

275,115

9.6 minutes

38.2 minutes

10.6 days

7.3 years

19

347,749

7.6 minutes

30.2 minutes

8.4 days

5.8 years

20

Infinite

An object at warp 20 occupies all points in the universe simultaneously.

While any vessel can gain entry into a previously established transwarp conduit, only starships equipped with a transwarp drive system can create new conduits. The creation process yields a lower maximum speed than a permanent or previously established conduit, however it offers the flexibility to choose an exact route/destination rather than the predetermined course dictated by the established conduits. Unless the aperture of the new conduit is immediately attributed to a transwarp hub, or otherwise stabilized, the new transwarp conduit will dissipate after a few hours. (“Requiem” [TFF]).

Despite the numerous advantages of travel through the transwarp domain, it is nonetheless a highly tenuous layer of subspace. Many regions of the transwarp domain have Cochrane values of zero, effectively nullifying the transwarp conduits. Additionally, large portions of the transwarp network can be easily disabled by a single torpedo. In August 2398, much of the transwarp infrastructure in the Jan’tral Sector was destroyed when the USS Starlight collapsed a transwarp conduit established by the Tholians to transport illicit goods into Romulan space. Scientists believe it will take the transwarp domain several years to recover. (“Cat and Mouse” [TFF], “The Culling” [TFF]).

The Voth are the only species known to have developed a stable transwarp system that does not access the transwarp domain. (“Distant Origin” [VGR]).

transwarp aperture.The mouth of a transwarp conduit, where vessels enter and exit the transwarp domain.

transwarp conduit.A narrow passageway through the transwarp domain that allows for space travel at extreme speeds. Unless they are linked to a transwarp hub or otherwise stabilized, transwarp conduits dissipate after a vessel passes through.

transwarp domain.A tenuous layer of subspace with unique physical properties that allow vessels to travel in excess of warp ten.

tranwarp hub.A large structure erected by the Borg to maintain and connect their vast network of transwarp conduits. As of early 2378, only five of these structures remained.

A Borg transwarp hub

A transwarp aperture

In subspace physics, transwarp speed is any velocity greater than warp ten. For many decades, transwarp was considered highly theoretical and mostly unattainable under normal warp theories.

Most theories indicated that any object traveling at warp 10 would be moving at infinite speed and, therefore, would simultaneously occupy every point of space in the universe.